The project “Street Theography” was created during 2006-2014 in different cities of Ukraine, Poland and Russia. No wonder of people praying in church, but the meter of my interest were manifestations of religious feelings in everyday life, on every street. Hence the name and the idea emerged during photographic research ─ especially in the street the conflict between the intimate nature of faith and the public, often ostentatious religiosity strongly appears.

Lviv, Ukraine – October 2006 A boy in Ukrainian shirt talks with two nuns while some girl with air baloon interrupts one of themLviv, Ukraine – June 2007 A girl, a nun and graffity.Lviv, Ukraine – June 2006 Girl with mobile ocassionally encounters a street prayerLviv, Ukraine – July 2007 Groop of noons after pryerLviv, Ukraine – May 2007 Street confession with catholic priestLviv, Ukraine – January 2014 Two orthodox priests before street prayer at Lviv MaidanLviv, Ukraine – September 2008 Old woman beneath Christ figureLviv, Ukraine – March 2009 Cadets at street prayerLviv, Ukraine – August 2008 Old wooman with madonna figureLviv, Ukraine – March 2010 Mans equilibres while repairing christ figureLviv, Ukraine – October 2013 Jesus Chrisrt and birds. Autumn.

Q&A with Kostya Smolyaninov

Photography is…
Photography for me is a type of research of life around me. From the other hand, it a method of keeping of my inner “ecology”, relax maybe.

Photography and writing…
I am author of a lot of texts about photography and contemporary art in Russian and Ukrainian. It my hobby to speak a lot about photography and to write about it. I believe that it is very important for the comprehension of what You do.

Who left the biggest impression on you?
Maybe unfortunately, but the biggest impression on me had not photographers but another artists such as Irish performer Nigel Rolfe, German saxophonist Peter Brotzmann or American media-artist Erwin Redl.

Tell us a little about yourself
I was born and permanently live in a beutiful Ukrainean city Lviv. I am biochemist, and photography was not my main occupation. But step by step it became my basic source of self realization in life. It is the main part of my life, the most important part.